Who is Christopher Wray? Trump’s F.B.I. Pick Is Said to Be Low-Key and Principled

WASHINGTON — Christopher A. Wray was the government’s top criminal prosecutor in 2004 when the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, and the deputy attorney general, James B. Comey, threatened to quit the Bush administration over a controversial surveillance program. He offered to join their protest.

Now, with President Trump’s selection of Mr. Wray on Wednesday to be the director of the F.B.I., all three men will be central figures in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election that has rocked the Trump administration. Mr. Mueller is leading the investigation into Russian influence — and the inquiry led Mr. Trump to fire Mr. Comey.

In choosing Mr. Wray, the president is calling on a veteran Washington lawyer who is more low key and deliberative than either Mr. Mueller or Mr. Comey but will remain independent, friends and former colleagues say.

“He’s not flashy. He’s not showy. He’s understated,” said J. Michael Luttig, a former judge who hired Mr. Wray as a law clerk in 1992. Mr. Luttig, who said he counted Mr. Comey and Mr. Mueller as friends, said Mr. Wray would bring a more subtle management style to the F.B.I.

Calling Mr. Wray a “man of impeccable credentials,” Mr. Trump revealed his choice in an early-morning tweet on the eve of a congressional hearing in which Mr. Comey was to testify about what he interpreted as improper attempts by Mr. Trump to pressure him.

Mr. Wray is a safe, mainstream pick from a president who at one point was considering politicians for a job that has historically been kept outside partisanship. A former assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush, Mr. Wray is likely to assuage the fears of F.B.I. agents who worried that Mr. Trump would try to weaken or politicize the agency.

Those who know Mr. Wray say his willingness to quit the Justice Department more than a decade ago as a matter of principle showed he would brush back attempts at political interference and try to protect the bureau’s independence.

Questions on that willingness are certain to come up at his Senate confirmation hearing. Mr. Trump has repeatedly interjected himself into criminal justice matters in ways that previous presidents have avoided. His dismissal of Mr. Comey has been criticized as an effort to obstruct the F.B.I.’s investigation into Mr. Trump’s campaign and possible collusion with Russia.

Mr. Mueller is now acting as the Justice Department’s special counsel overseeing the investigation. He and Mr. Wray respect each other, Mr. Luttig said, predicting they would work well together.

If confirmed, Mr. Wray will have to balance fighting terrorism with trying to root out public corruption and confronting Russian and Chinese espionage at the nation’s top law enforcement organization, which has evolved into a major part of the national security apparatus. He would lead about 35,000 people at an agency where many are seeking a calming presence after nearly a year of turmoil.

“He’ll have a strong emphasis on creating and nurturing the trust of every F.B.I. agent,” said Joe D. Whitley, a former senior Justice Department official who has known Mr. Wray for years.

Mr. Wray is a familiar figure in Washington; he took a top job with the Justice Department in the spring of 2001, playing a pivotal role in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by overseeing operations.

Mr. Wray is likely to face questions at his confirmation hearing about what he knew about C.I.A. abuses in the years after the attacks and how the Justice Department responded to them.

According to government documents since made public, he was made aware in February 2004 of the death of a C.I.A. detainee in Iraq that had been ruled a homicide and whose case was referred to the Justice Department.

Months later, Mr. Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had learned about the death from media reports and was not aware of a criminal referral from the Pentagon or the F.B.I., but did not say whether he knew of one from the C.I.A. That prompted Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, a Democrat, to accuse Mr. Wray of giving “less than a complete and truthful answer.”

Mr. Wray went on to serve as head of the criminal division from 2003 to 2005, directing efforts to deal with corporate fraud scandals and political investigations. Chris Swecker, the former head of the F.B.I. criminal investigations division, said Mr. Wray was unafraid to pursue sensitive corruption cases that included prosecutions of the disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the former Representatives Randy Cunningham and William J. Jefferson.

After leaving for private practice at the law firm King & Spalding, Mr. Wray represented Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a former Justice Department colleague, in the so-called Bridgegate scandal over a politically motivated scheme to cause traffic jams. Two former aides to Mr. Christie, an ally of Mr. Trump, were found guilty and sentenced to prison; the governor was not charged.

That Mr. Wray’s political skills were honed in the crucible of scandal gave him an edge over the other finalist, John S. Pistole, a former deputy director of the F.B.I. and head of the Transportation Security Administration, administration officials said. Mr. Wray had managed to soothe and counsel the volatile Mr. Christie.

The American Civil Liberties Union voiced concerns on Wednesday about Mr. Wray’s nomination, citing his oversight role after the Sept. 11 attacks and his work for Mr. Christie, which “makes us question his ability to lead the F.B.I. with the independence, evenhanded judgment and commitment to the rule of law that the agency deserves,” the organization said in a statement.

The A.C.L.U. also called on senators to vigorously question Mr. Wray about what he knew, as the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, about abuses of detainees in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan and at Guantánamo Bay.

Mr. Wray graduated in 1989 from Yale University, where he met his future wife, Helen, in his freshman dormitory. Her family once owned the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Mr. Wray rowed crew in high school and college, said Andrew C. Hruska, his law partner and friend since childhood.

“His willingness to put in a tremendous amount of effort toward a team goal really personifies Chris,” Mr. Hruska said.

He earned his law degree in 1992 from Yale Law School. After clerking for Mr. Luttig, Mr. Wray moved to Atlanta and joined the office of the United States attorney there.

While Mr. Wray does not have a reputation as a partisan operative, he has donated consistently to Republican candidates. Over the past decade, he has contributed at least $35,000 to Republican candidates or committees, according to Federal Election Commission data. He did not do so during the 2016 election, but he has donated to Republican presidential nominees, including $2,300 to support Senator John McCain of Arizona in 2008 and $7,500 to Mitt Romney in 2012.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, a Democrat who serves on the Judiciary Committee, said he was approaching Mr. Wray’s choice with caution.

“Above all, he will need to show his commitment to protecting the bureau’s independence,” Mr. Whitehouse said.

Mr. Wray will not tolerate meddling, his friends say.

“He certainly understands the appropriate norms that exist between the Justice Department, F.B.I. and White House,” said John C. Richter, a fellow lawyer at King & Spalding who was a former federal prosecutor in Atlanta.